A wireless communication is a complex network of systems and elements. Typically elements include (1) a radio link to the mobile stations (e.g., cellular telephones), which is usually provided by at least one and typically several base stations, (2) communication links between the base stations, (3) a controller, typically one or more base station controllers or centralized base station controllers (BSC/CBSC), to control communication between and to manage the operation and interaction of the base stations, (4) a call controller or switch, typically a call agent (i.e., a “softswitch”), for routing calls within the system, and (5) a link to the land line or public switch telephone network (PSTN), which is usually also provided by the call agent.
For many people, the Internet has provided alternative ways of communication. In particular, electronic mail messages (i.e., e-mail) have replaced traditional letters and sometimes voice calls as the way of communicating. However, e-mail may not provide a response fast enough in certain circumstances. Further, multiple exchanges of e-mails may require a number of steps to read, reply, and send the e-mails back and forth. Accordingly, real-time communication service such as instant messaging (IM) service and group chat service is becoming a communication mechanism to substitute for e-mail. For example, instant messaging service permits a subscriber to determine whether other subscribers such as friends or co-workers are on-line, and if so, to communicate with each other in “real time” over the Internet. Under most circumstances, real-time communication is “instant.” Even during peak traffic periods of the Internet, the delay of real-time communication is typically less than a few seconds. Thus, subscribers may have a real-time on-line “conversation” by exchanging messages with each other (i.e., sending messages back and forth). For example, parents may be able to “talk” with their children who are attending college or working in other cities, states, or countries via real-time communication service. As a result, real-time communication service may even replace voice calls because of cost and convenience.
One aspect of designing a wireless communication system is to provide real-time communication service to mobile stations, i.e., wireless devices such as cellular telephones, pagers, and electronic planners. However, some messages may appear asynchronously (i.e., out of sequence) during a real-time communication session because of different response time by participants of the session. That is, some participants may operate a mobile station with a slow connection to the Internet. Further, a response from a “slow-responding” participant may arrive after other participants have moved on to another topic. To illustrate this concept, the following is a group chat session between Subscribers #1–#4:
Subscriber #1: Where are you going for Thanksgiving?
Subscriber #2: At the in-laws in San Francisco.
Subscriber #3: I'll be visiting my parents in Phoenix.
Subscriber #1: Where are you going for New Year's Eve?
Subscriber #2: I'll be skiing in Vail.
Subscriber #3: Partying in Las Vegas.
Subscriber #4: I'm not going anywhere.
In the above example, Subscriber #4 may have a slow Internet connection and/or responded after Subscriber #1 asked the second question. As a result, Subscribers #1–#3 may not know whether Subscriber #4 is responding to the first question or the second question from Subscriber #1 based on the time of arrival and/or the content of the message from Subscriber #4.
Therefore, a need exists for a method and an apparatus to provide a message creation reference associated with a real-time communication message so that a plurality of real-time communication messages may be arranged in a sequential order.